Luger P08 Pistol

The Luger, formally the Pistole 08, is a German semi-automatic pistol designed by Georg Luger and distinguished by its toggle-lock action, in which a jointed arm at the rear of the pistol pivots upward to cycle the mechanism rather than the sliding breechblock used by most later pistol designs. Adopted by the German military in 1908, it became the standard sidearm of German army and naval officers through the First World War and remained in widespread German service into and through the Second World War alongside its eventual successor, the Walther P38. The pistol was originally developed alongside, and is closely associated with, the 9mm Parabellum cartridge, a round created for the Luger that went on to become one of the most widely used handgun and submachine gun cartridges in the world, and the Luger's distinctive shape and mechanism have made it one of the most recognizable military pistols of the twentieth century.